Hartz dominated on the mound
Harold 鈥淪nipe鈥� Hartz was one of the most dominant pitchers to ever toe the rubber in the annals of Fayette County baseball.
The Connellsville native started playing baseball at a young age.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have high school baseball, little league or pony league,鈥� Hartz said. 鈥淭he only thing close to that was American Legion baseball. I started pitching in legion ball when I was 13-years old. That was around 1947.鈥�
Hartz got his nickname when he was nine years old after being taken on a snipe hunt and left in the woods.
Baseball ran in the family, he had an older brother who played.
鈥淵es Charles 鈥淐happie鈥� Hartz played,鈥� Hartz stated. 鈥淲e played on the same team clear through. I played legion baseball for six years, after you were 18 you weren鈥檛 allowed to play legion baseball. Chappie was a year older than I was.鈥�
Hartz pitched in the Big Ten League and the Fay-West baseball leagues. He also played amateur ball in the Mon Valley.
鈥淚 pitched in the other leagues when I wasn鈥檛 playing legion ball,鈥� Hartz recalled. 鈥淐huck Kern kept me up for one or two games with the Fay-West League, they would get ahead pretty good and then they would put me in. I pitched about 10 years in the Big Ten and 14 years in the Fay-West League.鈥�
Hartz signed a contract with the Boston Braves in 1951. The 18-year old lefty received special permission to sign with a major league club from Commissioner A.B. 鈥淗appy鈥� Chandler even though his high school class did not graduate until June.
The 6-0, 182-pound Hartz had a four-year background in baseball at the time; three with the Junior Legion League and a fourth with Levin鈥檚 of the Fayette County Baseball League鈥檚 Youth section.
In 1950, Hartz sparked Levin鈥檚 to the Youth Section regular season championship. He won 18 games and lost one. He hurled six one-hitters and three two-hitters, and 10 shutouts.
鈥淚 pitched a year and a half in the minors,鈥� Hartz said. 鈥淭hen went OK, my father died in 1951 and then in 1952 I was inducted into the service and that was the end of my minor-league career. I was a military policeman for two and a half years. I returned to Connellsville and my job with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, I had actually started working on the railroad when I was 17. I retired after 41 years on the railroad.鈥�
He returned to the baseball diamond in Fayette County and fashioned a great pitching career. In 14 Fay-West seasons, Hartz won 307 games and lost 21. He averaged 13 strikeouts and two walks per game. Hartz threw 13 no-hitters and 39 one-hitters. He tossed consecutive no-hitters against Oliphant and Trotter in 1952.
The Cleveland Indians gave Hartz a tryout in 1952, but he didn鈥檛 stick with the Tribe.
From 1960 to 1962 he ran off 28 consecutive wins.
鈥淚 had a decent fastball,鈥� Hartz offered. 鈥淢y most effective pitch was a curve ball. I could throw a curve three different ways, overhand, sidearm and a quarter arm curve drop. Everything came naturally. I pitched until I was 50 years old.鈥�
After his playing days were over, Hartz managed the Connellsville Legion team for five years and was also involved in the Pony League program.
He managed four different teams in the Fay-West League: Peck and Danny鈥檚 News, Wooddale, Connellsville Merchants and Trotter.
His Wooddale teams won five Fay-West championships.
Hartz was inducted into the Big Ten Fayette County Hall of Fame on October 30, 1983. He was enshrined in the Fay-West Baseball League Hall of Fame on December 19, 1984.
鈥淚t was a great brand of baseball back in the day,鈥� Hartz said. 鈥淚 played with and against some great players. Baseball was pretty much all we had, now they have other things, but back then baseball was king.
鈥淭heir a lot of old timers who came back and played in those leagues. When I played with Perryopolis, everyone of those guys played in the minor leagues.鈥�
After his retirement Hartz remained active in the community. He was a Democratic committeeman and is on the Connellsville Housing Authority and worked with the city senior citizens board.
Hartz, 83, and his wife, Charlotte, have been married for 63 years. They have two sons and a daughter. Hartz has three grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
George Von Benko鈥檚 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Monday editions of the 缅北禁地. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.